Salesforce vs. Allbound: What’s the Difference?

Given their huge footprint in the market these days, when you think sales solutions, you probably think Salesforce. So when you hear about a partner acceleration package like Allbound, there is a natural tendency to assume that your options are one or the other, and that the big name is the one to go with.

But when you delve into the actual features of both Salesforce and Allbound, you’ll see that they are actually two quite different tools – tools that not only don’t directly compete with one another, but can in some cases be used to enhance each other’s main offerings.

The three following points of distinction between these two powerful pieces of software will help you understand how they’re different, how they’re similar, and which solution can best fit the needs of your sales teams and partner channel.

Perhaps the biggest point of confusion comes in mistaking Salesforce for a direct competitor of Allbound. Salesforce is a platform that meets many different sales needs, but Allbound is a software suite that enables partner acceleration. Allbound was built specifically with the needs of channel partners in mind, and so has tools and features in place created for the sole purpose of facilitating cross-enterprise communication and complex deal making.

In fact, Allbound can even be plugged into a Salesforce instance so that your partners can take advantage of its advanced channel-related features.

Salesforce does offer a tool that is more closely aligned with what Allbound does, called Salesforce Communities. But Salesforce Communities is still a significantly different tool that serves the needs of a significantly different type of business than Allbound.

Building Out Salesforce Communities vs. Installing Allbound

Salesforce Communities can be implemented in a way that can facilitate partner collaboration – however, that’s not exactly what it’s for. Salesforce Communities requires a top-tier IT team and project team to assess needs and build out the software, a project that generally takes months or longer to implement. And Salesforce Communities also requires ongoing management from a full team of IT staff.

Allbound, on the other hand, works for those enterprises without the resources to dedicate an entire team to one software package. With Allbound, installation is easy. And since it was built to facilitate partner relationships, all the channel-related features that you would have to build custom into Salesforce Communities are available right out of the box. It’s also so easy to manage that a non-technical HR administrator or even an intern can do it.

After a business implements Salesforce Communities, there is an additional cost beyond just the cost of paying a team to maintain it. Salesforce charges $1200 per user, per year to use the software. So the more people communicating and collaborating, the bigger of an up-front expense it is to the business. Allbound, on the other hand, wantsyou to have as many people involved as you need at the table in your partner relationships. So there’s no charge attached to having more users (and no de facto financial punishment for success).

Your Channel Deserves a Partner Acceleration Platform, and So Do You

Salesforce Communities can be a powerful tool for those with the resources to implement and maintain it and pay a premium for each user. But Allbound does everything you could possibly need out of Salesforce Communities for your channel, without the added work and expense. Easy to install, easy to configure, and easy to maintain, Allbound lets you focus on setting your channel partners up to do what they do best – build your profits – as quickly and easily as possible.